Last checked: 31 October 2026. Part of LRR’s sapphic romance reading orders.
Carsen Taite was a criminal defense attorney in Dallas before she wrote full time, and her books are where you go when you want the legal stuff to be right. Prosecutors fall for defense attorneys. Judges fall for their clerks. A federal agent falls for the reporter covering her case. The conflicts of interest are real, and so are the procedures.
She has around thirty-six books with Bold Strokes, in five series and a long run of standalones. Most series give each book a new couple. One doesn’t, and it’s the one to watch out for: the Luca Bennett books follow a single bounty hunter whose love life stays unresolved across three books and ends on a cliffhanger.
Start here: It Should Be a Crime (her most-read, and the root of her courtroom world), or Trial by Fire for a modern entry point.
Bold scores come from LRR’s reviews of It Should Be a Crime and Trial by Fire. Every other score is provisional (Goodreads average minus 0.2) until we review the book, and most Taite books have under 300 Goodreads ratings, so treat those as a rough guide. Heat hasn’t been rated for the unreviewed books yet.
The series
| Series | # | Book | Year | Couple | Tropes | Ending | Eikna |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime & Defense | 1 | It Should Be a Crime | 2009 | Morgan & Parker | law professor and student, one-night stand, murder trial, forbidden; heat L3 to L4 (V) | HEA | 3.7 |
| Crime & Defense | 2 | The Best Defense | 2011 | Aimee & Skye | disgraced detective, socialite, missing person | HEA | 3.8p |
| Luca Bennett | 1 | Slingshot | 2012 | Luca & Ronnie | bounty hunter, butch heroine, defense attorney | Unresolved | 3.7p |
| Luca Bennett | 2 | Battle Axe | 2013 | Luca & Jess | organized crime, love triangle | Unresolved | 3.9p |
| Luca Bennett | 3 | Switchblade | 2014 | Luca, Jess & Ronnie | love triangle, cliffhanger | Cliffhanger | 4.1p |
| Luca Bennett | 3.5 | Bow and Arrow (novella) | 2018 | Luca & her cop girlfriend | established couple | not confirmed | 4.1p |
| Lone Star Law | 1 | Lay Down the Law | 2015 | Peyton & Lily | prosecutor and a suspect’s family, oil heiress, ranch | HEA | 3.8p |
| Lone Star Law | 2 | Above the Law | 2016 | Dale & Lindsey | DEA agent and reporter, grief | HEA | 3.8p |
| Lone Star Law | 3 | Letter of the Law | 2017 | Bianca & Jade | prosecutor and a target’s family, horses | HEA | 3.8p |
| Lone Star Law | 4 | Outside the Law | 2018 | Tanner & Sydney | FBI and prosecutor, law-school sweethearts | HEA | 4.0p |
| Legal Affairs | 1 | Practice Makes Perfect | 2019 | Campbell & Wynne | rival lawyers forced to work together | HEA | 3.7p |
| Legal Affairs | 2 | Out of Practice | 2020 | Abby & Roxanne | vacation fling, opposite sides of a case | HEA | 3.8p |
| Legal Affairs | 3 | Best Practice | 2020 | Perry & Grace | childhood crush, mentor, age gap | HEA | 3.7p |
| Courting Danger | 1 | Trial by Fire | 2021 | Wren & Lennox | prosecutor versus defense, arson case, class difference; heat L3 (V) | HEA | 3.8 |
| Courting Danger | 2 | Trial and Error | 2022 | Nina & Franco | judge and attorney, first loves, courtroom shooting | HEA | 4.0p |
| Courting Danger | 3 | Trial Run | 2024 | Reggie & Brooke | jurors, threatened family | HEA | 3.8p |
Heat runs from L1 (kisses only) to L5 (very explicit). V = from an LRR review, A = the author’s own label, E = our estimate. Bold scores come from LRR reviews; a “p” score is provisional (Goodreads average minus 0.2) until we review the book.
Endings marked HEA are the genre default for these romances, except where an LRR review confirms them. The Crime & Defense cast reappears in Trial by Fire. Spirit of the Law (2021) is listed as Lone Star Law #5 on one site, but Bold Strokes and Goodreads call Outside the Law the final book, so it’s a standalone below.
Standalones, in publication order
| Year | Book | Couple | Tropes | Eikna |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | truelesbianlove.com | not confirmed | her debut | 3.5p |
| 2010 | Do Not Disturb | Ainsley & Greer | hotel manager and a rock star in hiding | 3.6p |
| 2011 | Nothing but the Truth | Ryan & Brett | prosecutor versus defense | 3.7p |
| 2012 | Beyond Innocence | Cory & Serena | wrongful conviction, client’s sister | 3.7p |
| 2013 | Rush | Danielle & Ellen | serial-killer task force | 3.7p |
| 2014 | Courtship | Addison & Julia | Supreme Court nominee and her handler | 3.9p |
| 2015 | Reasonable Doubt | Ellery & Sarah | FBI analyst, terror plot | 3.8p |
| 2016 | Without Justice | Cade & Emily | witness protection, small-town Texas | 3.9p |
| 2017 | Sidebar | Camille & West | federal judge and her clerk | 3.8p |
| 2017 | A More Perfect Union | Zoey & Rook | Army whistleblower and a political fixer | 3.8p |
| 2018 | Love’s Verdict | Landon & Carly | rivals for partner, celebrity murder case | 3.8p |
| 2018 | Pursuit of Happiness | Meredith & Stevie | senator and a public defender | 3.8p |
| 2019 | Leading the Witness | Catherine & Starr | defense versus prosecutor, kidnapping past | 3.8p |
| 2020 | Drawn | not confirmed | 3.7p | |
| 2021 | Spirit of the Law | Summer & Owen | psychic medium and prosecutor, murder | 3.9p |
| 2021 | Her Consigliere | Siobhan & Royal | mob consigliere and undercover FBI agent | 3.8p |
| 2022 | Perilous Obsession | Beck & Macy | cold case, serial killer, journalist | 3.9p |
| 2023 | Made for Her | Neal & Anastasia | mafia, married to the enemy | 3.7p |
| 2025 or 2026 | Two Truths and a Crime | Raleigh & Quinn | romance plus a murder investigation | not yet rated |
Her Consigliere and Made for Her share the Mancuso crime family and read like companions, though neither is labelled a series. Also: the novella Double Jeopardy (2023, runaway bride, former love returns).
FAQs
Do I need to read Carsen Taite’s books in order? Only the Luca Bennett books. They follow one heroine with an unresolved romance. Her other series give each book a new couple.
Where should I start with Carsen Taite? It Should Be a Crime, her most-read book, or Trial by Fire (2021), which brings back that world’s characters.
Is Spirit of the Law part of Lone Star Law? Most sources say no. Outside the Law is the final Lone Star Law book.
Do Carsen Taite’s books have happy endings? Her romances do. The Luca Bennett series is the exception: it’s crime fiction with a romance that doesn’t resolve book by book.